Friends of Batley Station turn out for clean-up

Batley Station has had an autumn clean-up thanks to dedicated volunteers.

The station’s Friends group tended to flower tubs, planted bulbs, cleared leaves and collected litter on the platforms as part of their regular Action Station session.

Members also spoke to rail passengers about the station’s improvements and met with Northern Rail representative Pete Myers, who has supported the work of the Friends.

Future plans for the concourse include re-opening the station shop and attracting more volunteers.

“I’m really grateful to those FOBS members who turned out for this clean-up. On looking back since we first formed in April 2015 we are very proud to see so many much-needed improvements to our station being carried out. The new roof panels and the removal of the weeds from the station building are a great achievement,” said Coun Gwen Lowe, who chairs the group.

The Northern franchise, which serves Batley, is due to be taken over by Arriva and volunteers are hoping that community improvements will be prioritised by the new operators.

“With Arriva taking over, FOBS are naturally unsure what the future will be. So hopefully 2016 will bring even greater improvements to our station. It would of course be wonderful if we could keep Pete Myers with us on this exciting journey,” added Coun Lowe.